Another New Hobby?

Well, perhaps Sydney's schedule is going to have to expand to include tracking... Soccer Moms have *nothing* on me! haa.

This morning, I ventured out of the house for the first time in what seems like forever. Friends were getting together for a tracking session, and Uncle Gizzer really loves going tracking. He doesn't have many opportunities for activities, so I wanted to take him tracking on this lovely, cool morning. I also decided to bring Syd, since we would be in the company of some serious tracking experience, I wanted Syd's first tracking experience to happen in their company so that I could get pointers, or opinions on her potential.

It's been so long since I've been tracking, I didn't even know that you now have a "start article" at the starting flag. Oops. Thank goodness Linda and Nancy had a knotted sock and a bandana to loan out! Gizmo was RIGHT on the tracks, ignoring food drops, just cruising along the track to find his jackpot at the end of the track. He has not forgotten anything about tracking, and even putting on the harness got him fired up!

When we put in a very short track for Syd, I kind of got her started off badly. Since Syd loves to play tug as a reward in agility, I made the mistake of picking up the start article while she was still in the line of vision, and she thought it was time to play. Nancy and I pointed to the ground and got her nose in the vicinity of a food drop, and well, that was all it took. She worked a bit slow, wandering left and right a couple of feet, but finding the article at the end. The second track was much better, high concentration from Syd, and I was able to let her move a bit away from me. By track #3, I was the full 20 feet behind my dog, and she was a dog on a mission. She left several food drops untouched, and from 20 feet, I could hear her seriously snuffling, working her track.

I was very impressed with Syd's start at tracking. Much like Gizmo, she seems to really get it, and I hope they both continue to enjoy working tracks. With Gizmo being 12 1/2 years old, I really would love for him to get to track more, and I owe it to him to get out and get tracking... With two dogs to train, it might make the drive to find a good tracking site a bit better. :-)

HomeChicken

There IS another red dog in the Hurrikane crew... She just doesn't make many public appearances. :-)

This is Breezy. She and Syd are littermates. I was drawn to Bree the day the pups were born, and she's the funniest, silliest girl when she wants to be. If I can't find Bree, she's probably zonked out behind the chair in the corner of the living room. But that's *only* if all possibilities for fun and zoomies are exhausted!

Breezy is very helpful with kitchen chores, like helping with the dishes, and organizing the refrigerator.

Breezy comes in very handy when one of the other dogs needs a special buddy. She and Uncle Gizzer are very close. She and Hawk are worthy adversaries when it comes to frapping.

Breezy is an odd little duck. She loves to go for walks, and for car rides, but she is not exactly thrilled about going new places. I call her the HomeChicken because she's a dog who just loves being at home with her buddies.

Breezy is "part Cardigan, part Mountain Goat" according to our friend Norma, who kept Breezy at 'daycare' when she was a younger puppy. I wanted the two girls to spend time apart and have separate lives. So Norma agreed to have Bree come visit her girls a couple of days while I was at work.


Anyway, Bree can be on one piece of furniture, and in the blink of the eye, she's across the room, and she might have gotten there without touching the floor! So, it was no surprise when she was a puppy that her jumps from the back of the sofa (hey, I tried, but she's lightning fast, and impossible to catch) resulted in a growth plate injury. :-( Poor Bree, she had to have surgery to fix her broken leg, and she was homebound for many, many weeks of her puppyhood.

Because she was homebound and not really out much, I think Breezy missed out on discovering the fun in going new places. She LOVES Aunt Julie's house, and the resident Collie is her best bud. She and Jackson can play, and play, and play some more. But in general, Breezy takes a while to warm up to new dogs. When I adopted Savannah, the old-decrepit Weimaraner in November, I thought Breezy would *never* warm up to the old girl. Breezy darted quickly around Savannah, barked at her when the old girl went by the corgi crates, and mostly Bree avoided Vannah at all cost. Um, it's not like she's never seen a Weimaraner before! Graycie was here before the puppies arrived, and definitely let them know to keep clear of her personal space right up until the day she crossed the Rainbow Bridge.


Once Savannah arrived, it took a few months, but now Breezy thinks Savannah is just the best-est friend EVER! She's just a nut. A few months ago, I took Bree to our agility building, and tried to lure her through a tiny tunnel. The look on her face explained it all. I'm pretty sure Breezy was telling me that this was, without a doubt, the stupidest thing she'd ever seen. And I think she was looking at her watch to see exactly when we'd be going home!


So, I don't expect that my little HomeChicken will be out and about travelling the country with me, but we love her just the same, and she DOES exist! :-)

Sleep Walker

Well, I guess it's actually more like a Sleep Pivot-er! Too bad the photos can't convey the woofing through the lips and little paws just twitching away.

That's CHAMPION Miss Bossy Britches!

What? Yep, Syd finished her AKC Championship today in Minnesota. She finished with a bang, winning a 4-point major. I was very proud of her, she was much more relaxed than she was the last time I showed her, and she was better around the other dogs ringside, only mildly giving a "talking to" to another dog.

It was a whirlwind trip, driving up Friday late afternoon, and home Saturday by 6pm. But well worth it to come home with a new Champion!

Repeat After Me...

I know I said this early on, but it's definitely worth repeating. A reactive dog is not the same as an "aggressive" dog. I hear lots of people providing labels for Sydney's reactive behavior. She's bossy, she's bitchy, she's aggressive, she hates other dogs. The list goes on and on. It becomes difficult sometimes to smile and try to explain that Sydney is actually afraid and that she's not some monster dog. Given the opportunity, she'd much rather run away than be in whatever situation causes her to be reactive. Sometimes I just want to shout at people to leave us alone, as it gets old fast.

Today I got into the heart of our newest book, Control Unleashed, by Leslie McDevitt. It's mostly geared for agility, but is applicable for any focus work, and reactivity issues. I wanted to quote from the book, something that I might have printed on a T-shirt :

"Reactivity comes from anxiety, which comes from feeling uncertain about something. Reactivity is an information-seeking strategy. A reactive dog will rush toward something or someone that he is uncertain about, barking, lunging, growling, and making a big display. People sometimes perceive reactive behavior as aggression, but a reactive dog is not rushing in to do damage; he is attempting to assess the threat level of a given situation. His assessment strategy is intensified because he is panicking as the adrenaline flows through his body.
...People also sometimes perceive reactive behavior as "dominance" because they view a dog that flies at his triggers as a dog that wants to take charge. This is absoluetly not the case. Reactive dogs are anxious, and their response is intense because they are freaking out."

Thank you Leslie!!! The "public display" as I call it, is just the obvious behavior that gets the attention of everyone in the room. What people don't see is the intense salivating, whining, insecure eyes darting around looking for danger. Seeing Sydney when she's afraid is heartbreaking. I always feel like I've given Syd a reason to be scared, and that I failed to protect her in the past.

Sydney has had great improvement at agility class. When she is on a leash, I am cautious about her personal space. Off-leash, Sydney has decided that Gypsy the Border Collie is lots of fun, and she has had a couple of opportunities to get face to face with Gypsy. Each time, Syd approaches Gypsy with good manners, inquisitive and playful. I firmly believe that Syd feels no threat when she's off-leash. If she needs to run away, she can. On a leash, Syd is afraid that she can not get away from any potentially scary situation.

I hope to have some new agility photos and/or video of our foundation work soon. Syd is doing great with Bounce Jumping, and directional jumping and wrapping. I'm very proud of my girl, and hope that her good work continues.

Another 3 point major!

The photo is finally here... Sydney was entered at the Sedalia shows 4th of July weekend. On Friday the 4th, she was WB/BW/BOS over a special and won another 3 point major. Her behavior was OK, although she did act up a bit.

Saturday her behavior was better, but she couldn't get the judge to point to her, even if she had on tap shoes and broke out into a routine. Sunday she behaved VERY well, she was calm, laying down and not worried about all the other dogs. She won her class that day, but our friend Jon and his girl Rika won the points.

We'll try again in Topeka in August, but for now, Syd has gotten to go back to agility classes, and that makes her very happy!

Herding - Does a Body (and Mind) Good!

This is Uncle Gizmo. He's 12, and he's the reason I started trekking 128 miles round trip to tromp around in muddy pastures. It's because Gizmo LOVES to go play with sheep. At almost 10 years old, I took Gizzer for an instinct test, and he was a natural. So, when the puppies were young, they started tagging along with Uncle Gizmo to lessons, and Sydney showed a spark for the sheep early on.

Yesterday, for a 12th birthday present for Uncle Gizzer, we drove up to Bridget's http://www.realitycaninecenter.com/ for a lesson. Syd went too, to see if she still had the drive.

I was happy with Sydney's behavior, mostly for non-sheep related activities. To avoid the biggest mud puddles, we went through a small yard to get to the sheep pens. Inside the small yard were 4 dogs. Two Italian Greyhounds (I think they were mixes, or the fattest IGs I've ever seen!), an Australian Cattle Dog, and a hairy Tibetan Terrier. Syd was afraid as we brought her through the gate, but she never showed an ugly face, and going through the yard the first time, she simply tried to avoid and get away from the other four dogs. After the lesson, on our way back out of the pens, Syd was calmer and not as worried about the other dogs as we went back through the small yard. It was a huge accomplishment IMO, for her to control her fear and not try to act out to cover over her insecurity.

I think it's safe to say that Syd still has the spark!

Video of Syd and Giz and their herding lessons is at www.youtube.com/hurrikanecardigans . Listed in the "Videos" section.

Follow up Visit with Dr. Perkins

I don't know if I mentioned it before, but a couple of months ago, I decided to consult with Dr. Perkins about Sydney's insecurities. Dr. Perkins has seen most of my dogs and limits her practice to acupuncture, chiropractic, and TCVM. I took Syd to see Dr. Perkins in hopes of some success from a "quiet the mind" type approach. An acupuncture treatment and an herbal supplement seem to have helped my girl. It did not surprise me at all to hear that by the definition in Eastern medicine, Syd is a "Fire" personality.

Last night, Syd went for a follow up visit to see Dr. Perkins and Syd was completely calm, no panting, no pacing, and accepted the acupuncture treatment with no stress or anxiety. Dr. Perkins was very pleased with Syd's progress, and it was nice to see Syd improved in yet another place where she had previously expressed anxiety.

Two Majors- First Weekend Back!

To say I'm speechless is an understatement! This weekend my girl really did me proud. Not only did she behave calmly and comfortably at the local Sunflower Kennel Club dog shows Saturday and Sunday, she won the 4 point major both days! How's that for getting back into the swing of things? :-) A huge thanks to co-owner/breeder Jacque Glenn for showing Syd like a superstar!

Keep on Ticking

It's been a while, but thought I'd update my blog so that I don't forget about the last couple of months. Syd continues to improve, with occasional steps backwards.

Because I'm showing Hawk frequently, Syd has been accompanying us on trips to the dog shows. I have not entered her *yet* but hope to get her out again soon. She has done very well at the shows. I try to be careful to get her out at times when I think it's not too overwhelming, and keep her feeling secure and safe at all times. She's done some snarking at strange dogs, but I am always cautious and careful about keeping Syd safe and under control and trying to be sure to distract her and keep her from stressing out in the first place.

In other venues, Syd has really improved. She finished her first session of beginning agility classes, and just finished the second level. She improves in her social skills every week. When we first started at agility, she liked being there, but was very nervous about other dogs. At the end of class, she's almost pull me to the door, ready to get outta there. I got to the point of giving her a short time out in her crate after about 20 minutes of class, so that she could settle down and have some private time. That worked really well for her, and I knew I had to try to work at a pace that was right for her.

Just in the last few weeks of class, I noticed that Syd could approach other dogs calmly, and without stress. Her confidence level in herself has really grown, and as we put together longer sequences of agility obstacles, I can see in her expression when she knows she's done something right. She loves toys and food, and she's a natural athlete with lots of drive, so she is an easy girl to motivate!